“What are you drinking?” the strange girl asked. Shao turned his head slightly, a curtain of dreads covering most of his face. He sat on the edge of the dock, a bit tipsy from his drink. The dark water of the lagoon lay before him almost black from the night sky. “The tears of small

I remember the fall. It was soft and comforting, like falling into a bed of downy pillows. Except without all of the feathers poking you. I hate realizing that forever couldn’t be built on a bed of downy pillows. I don’t regret it though. I don’t regret getting to know you and growing to love

Content warning for alcoholism. ethan felt devastated. he wasn’t even sure how the alcohol could help or why he accepted that cigarette when the drunken pass by lent him one, hell he didn’t know where the lighter came from. he also didn’t quite understand why the young looking bartender was asking him what was wrong but

Every muscle in her body fought for a hopeless cause. A promise made by a 15-year-old at her best friend’s house. No peer pressure. No giving in, the habits that so separated them from their parents would remain inactivated genes in their DNA. And yet, she was here. Fingers fumbling in the darkness for a

Tristan’s trembling hands grabbed the bottle of hair bleach. He was going from black to blonde. An impulse buy, which happened 30 minutes ago, was finally starting to hit him. He had brought a box of hair dye from the store, even though he only walked in to get a bag of potatoes. “What the

 Spring time has always been my favorite season. Summer was too short, fall reminded me of death, and by winter my back ached from all the sadness that accumulated throughout the year. Spring was new, fresh. My year always seemed to reset in April. I guess that’s why the pain hit so hard.  “Tristan I–I

I’m patiently waiting in silence, listening intently for the universe to return my existential questions. It’s early Monday morning, and just outside the window pane sits a cloud heavy sky with disastrous hues of grey and violet, and I’m in pain. It’s pointless and a little obscure, sitting in a dark room, my foot tapping

‘I think,’ the cockroach started, rolling the words in his mouth as he developed the sentence. ‘You think?’ The butterfly urged. ‘I think, that people are scared of me because I don’t look like how they’d wish me to look.’ The cockroach finished. ‘I think they’re scared of you because you can survive a nuclear

lower case intended. the strum of a guitar was heard in between the giggles of the smiling girl and the busy train. cupcake in hand, jade and her bandmates switched to a new wagon. it took them a while to start playing. the people around thought it was the state of the train to blame but

Words escape me these days. I find myself writing them haphazardly on the nearest scrap of paper, only to return to my desk moments later and witness its empty, paperless surface. Secret clues remind me of the words I once wrote: a splotch of oil here where my nervous hands crossed the page, a blackened